Reply by Peter Oxley

I guess the thing to consider is that any error will compound with multiple joints. If you rip a piece for a shelf with an 89 degree edge, no one will notice. But if you rip 180 strips with an 89 degree edge on each side, you can make a cylinder.

As for Starret vs. anything else … well, Starret’s probably the best. But you can correct a square if it’s not true. And one drop on the floor and it probably won’t be true, regardless of the name stamped on it. That’s why the couple of Starret tools I own almost never see the light of day … I drop things.